Too to hot to fish? That’s what many people think during the dog days of summer but a local father and son duo, Trey and Rhett Tanner, don’t believe that axiom. The Tanners live near Lake Tom Bailey and spend several days a week fishing together.

“We got out on the lake just after sunrise,” Trey Tanner said. “We started fishing and then decided to pull over to the bank and fish in the shade awhile since it was getting hot.”

Rhett Tanner is 7 years old and loves to fish about as much as his dad. The Northeast Elementary student is home schooling this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic and he joined his dad last Sunday morning for a memorable fishing trip.

“Things were really slower than normal due to the heat, but we didn’t want to quit so we pulled the boat into the shade along the bank,” Tanner said. “I’ve caught several six and seven pounders there, so we knew there was some big bass in there if we could just get one to bite.”

Tanner usually practices catch and release so that he can keep catching lunker bass and the practice is surely paying off.

After the lake was drained and re-stocked a few years ago the fishing pressure was so great that bass fishing wasn’t really good for a long while. Due to the size of the lake it’s never going to produce large numbers of bass on each trip but as long as people such as Tanner and his son are releasing the bass there will always be a few big ones to catch.

“About 9:15 I cast the Carolina Rig worm out and let it go to the bottom,” Tanner said. “I picked up on it and it felt like it was hung so I gave it a tug and felt it move. When I realized it was a fish, I set the hook and knew it was a big fish and thought it might be a big catfish.”

As soon as the fish felt the sting of the hook it exploded through the surface and vaulted toward the sky. The bass wallowed wildly and thrashed back and forth on the surface as Tanner fought the fish. It was nip and tuck for a while and Rhett was afraid they were about to lose the monster bass when they finally wore him down.

“I laid down across the boat and grabbed him with my hands when he got close,” Tanner said. “Rhett was speechless for a few minutes and we were both excited!”

When the dynamic fishing duo found out that it was a lake record for the largest bass caught on Tom Bailey they were ecstatic to say the least.

According to Conservation Officer Bud Loper, the bass was the Tom Bailey Lake record, and it weighed in at 10.1 pounds, was 24-inches long and had a 17-inch girth!

There’s nothing much sweeter for a father than catching a monster bass, which turns out to be a lake record, while fishing with your son. For Trey and Rhett Tanner it was a trip for the ages and a bass that will become a lifetime memory.

Call Mike Giles at 601-917-3898 or email mikegiles18@comast.net.